Shifting Sands, Swirling Sea
by FlitterFlutterFly
Summary: The summer before fourth year, Harry, Hermione, and Sirius live together in wizarding France. The impact of all they learn there becomes clear when Harry's name comes out of the Goblet of Fire. Intelligent!Submissive!Harry. Cultured!Submissive!Hermione. Mature!Lord!Sirius. DM/HP. VK/HG. Traditional Courtship, Some Politics, Some Action, Evil Voldemort, Manipulative Dumbledore.
1. Chapter 1

**Notes:** Another story. Yep, I'm writing another strong Harry-Hermione friendship fic. But, it's different from Granger Danger. For one, they're older and have more of a brother-sister relationship. This story is canon up to the beginning of the fourth book, but it's slightly AU cause I made the world dynamic (as in, it's a Dom/sub universe).

There will be a bit of Ron and Dumbledore bashing as the story progresses, but it's not over the top, hopefully.

The two main pairings are set (being Harry/Draco and Hermione/Viktor) but I'm open to suggestions on side pairings. That being said, there are two main couples in this and that means they will get almost EQUAL story time. AS IN HET AND SLASH! There will probably be somewhat explicit sex scene for BOTH couples. Don't like, don't read.

Harry, Hermione, and Sirius are all a bit OOC. As is Draco Malfoy. Sorry, not sorry. There is and will continue to be several cliche elements, but I'm hoping the overall story is somewhat unique.

With that over with, enjoy my newest HP story. (And for those of you invested in House of Snakes, I will be updating that soon-ish... but don't hold your breath. I've got Ch 10 halfway done but I got inspired by this story and so set it aside.)

* * *

Harry stood barefoot on the beach. The constant wind blew at his shoulder length black hair. He absentmindedly tied a leather cord around it, pulling it into a messy ponytail at the nape of his neck. He wore no glasses; having gotten his vision corrected nearly two months before. His sight was crisp and clear as he looked over the moonlit sea.

The sound of footsteps alerted him to another presence. Harry flicked his wrist so that his familiar holly wand fell from its holster into his palm. Quickly, though, he recognized the magical signature as that of his godfather. Harry slipped his wand back up into its holster and relaxed as Sirius clapped a friendly hand on his shoulder.

They stood side-by-side watching the sea. The waves quietly lapped at the sand in front of them. Harry glanced to the left, observing his godfather's face briefly. Sirius looked much healthier after a full summer of healing. His cheeks had filled out from their previous gauntness and his eyes had lost most of their shadows. He would never be the same laughing man Harry saw in the pictures of his parents' wedding, but Sirius no longer held himself like a deranged Azkaban escapee.

Harry turned his attention down the beach as three figures came into view. Hermione and Fleur Delacour walked close together, talking in low whispers. Fleur's little sister, Gabrielle, ran ahead. Harry stepped forward and held out his arms to accept the girl's hug. She smelled like spring, like innocence and happiness. Harry tightened his grip around the eight-year-old briefly before letting her go.

"_Tu vas me manquer_," Gabrielle said.

"_Moi aussi,_" Harry agreed. He would miss her too. "We'll see each other again."

Gabrielle pouted. "When?"

Harry chuckled. "At the very least, next summer. _Oui, m'ange?_"

Gabrielle blushed. "_Oui, mon chevalier._"

Hermione and Fleur had come close enough to hear and Fleur laughed. "You spoil 'er, 'arry," she said. "_Il est un soumis, Gabrielle._"

Harry flushed. "Fleur!"

"_Je sais_." Gabrielle pouted.

Hermione giggled. "It's true, though. There's no point in you looking to marry Harry. He's as submissive as I am."

"That being not very," Sirius said, joining them. "All four of you have that fighting spirit true lords and ladies should always look for in a consort."

Gabrielle grew shy at Sirius' presence and retreated to her sister's side. Fleur had been bashful of the man at the beginning of the summer, but several months later she barely blinked at his presence. Harry and Hermione had been confused at first when Fleur's mother, the lady of the house and dominant to Fleur's father, had taken Sirius aside and questioned him as to his intentions both with Harry and Hermione as well as her two daughters.

Sirius had explained later that as a well-known lord and dominant in the wizarding world even before his years in Azkaban, it was suspicious of him to live with possible consorts alone. But he'd told Lady Apolline that he was their acting guardian and would continue to be so.

Harry thought back to when Hermione and he had first learned of the difference between lords and consorts. Hermione had initially been disgusted by the idea, calling it sexist and chauvinistic, until Sirius had explained—with a bit of confusion as to what Hermione was insinuating—that there was nothing sexist about it. Being dominant or submissive didn't follow along gender lines in the wizarding world. It was true that there were statistically more male dominants and female submissives, but no one blinked at the opposite.

"It's late," Sirius said. "Let me walk you two back to your house," he told the Delacours.

"I guess it's time for last goodbyes," Hermione murmured. They had eaten an official goodbye dinner earlier with the full Delacour family, but that didn't make it easier to say farewell to the friends they'd made and might not see again for an entire year.

Fleur leaned forward and kissed both her cheeks. "Chin up, 'ermione," she said. "You are most beautiful when you smile."

Hermione smiled brightly and returned Fleur's kisses. She turned to Gabrielle and tugged the girl into a hug as Fleur and Harry exchanged their own set of kisses. Harry gave Gabrielle one last hug and then they headed as a group back up the beach and toward their summer homes.

Harry and Hermione stopped in front of the cottage that they'd lived in with Sirius for the past several months. Sirius continued to walk Fleur and Gabrielle down to the door of the neighboring house. Apolline opened the door and stepped out. Harry was too far away to hear what was said, but he saw Sirius and Apolline clasp hands briefly, before all three Delacours disappeared inside the house and Sirius made his way back.

Harry turned to Hermione. "What were you and Fleur talking about?"

"She was just reminding me about the hair charms she's been using for me this summer," Hermione said, patting her neatly braided hair.

Two days after they'd met the Delacours, Fleur had drawn Hermione aside and cast a charm on her hair that worked wonders at straightening it out just enough for them to be able to braid it and have it stay neatly bound. Hermione had declared her approval, saying especially that it helped keep her hair out of her face on the beach while she read from the many books that graced their cottage library.

Harry nodded and turned back briefly to the sea. Hermione followed his gaze and sighed. "I'll miss it too," she said. "But we'll be back."

Harry smiled. "For once, I'm looking forward to the next summer."

Hermione brushed a hand across his arm comfortingly. They turned back to the cottage and walked inside just as Sirius reached them. He closed the door behind them.

Harry walked over to the now bare living room. They'd already had Dobby take all their trunks to the house they'd been staying in for the last few weeks before the Hogwarts term started. All that was left now was the international portkey set to go off at midnight. Midnight, Sirius had said, because the portkey observation office would be least observant in the middle of the night and maybe they could put off _The Dailey Prophet_ reporting their return to Britain for a little longer.

"Ready?" Sirius asked. He held out his hand and the handkerchief in it.

Harry grabbed one end of the handkerchief, Hermione another.

"It feels like it's been years, not months," Harry murmured as they waited for the exact minute to hit.

"We've learned so much," Hermione said agreeably. "I… Sirius, thank you again. I know you could have done this just with Harry."

"Harry may be my official godson, but I signed the paperwork to become your magical guardian already, didn't I? It was a pleasure to have you here with us, Hermione," Sirius reassured her. "Though it remains to be seen if the British ministry will acknowledge what the French ministry, and the IWC, do."

Harry frowned down at the portkey. "Are you sure you should come with us? We can live on our own for the next few weeks. I don't want you to get arrested even if the International Wizarding Community agreed to your innocence. Britain hasn't released an official statement on it."

"_The Daily Prophet_ only reported on it at all because we threatened them," Hermione muttered angrily.

"I'm not leaving you two to live alone, even though I know you're both capable," Sirius stated. "I'm both your magical guardian, and your lord guardian to boot. It would be irresponsible for me to be in another country even and especially while you two are at Hogwarts."

Harry shared a look with Hermione. They'd agreed early on that the mental healing the French mindwizards had done on Sirius was a mixed blessing. Sure, he was much more stable now, but with that stability came a level of protectiveness than neither of them was used to from their muggle guardians. While Hermione's parents weren't nearly as neglectful as the Dursleys, they certainly weren't as mindful of Hermione as parents should be. Then again, for all Harry and Hermione mock complained about it, both of them had thrived under Sirius' guardianship that summer.

The portkey activated. It pulled at Harry from the gut in a nauseating whirl and twirl. What seemed like far too long later, he landed and immediately stumbled. Strong arms caught and steadied him.

Harry looked up, smiling at Sirius. Sirius let him go and ruffled his hair cheerily. Harry looked left to where Hermione was swaying unsteadily on her feet. He straightened and took note of their surroundings.

They stood in the front garden of a modest-sized home out in the English countryside. It was known as Hallows Hold, a beautiful stone house that had been in the Potter family for as long as Harry's invisibility cloak. Sirius had explained that the Potters were descendants of Ignotus Peverell, the original owner of the invisibility cloak. Of course, Hermione doubted that Harry's invisibility cloak was actually the one in the Deathly Hallows' legend, but Harry wasn't so sure.

Regardless, when Harry had gone to the Paris branch of Gringotts that summer and received his account statement from the goblins, he'd discovered Hallows Hold. It was unplottable and hadn't been lived in for hundreds of years, which made it the perfect place for them to live in while they were back in Britain. The Ministry wouldn't be able to find Sirius here and neither would Dumbledore be able to find Harry to force him back with the Dursleys.

They'd gone to Hallows Hold earlier that summer briefly to check it out and so they could accurately describe to Dobby how they wanted it set up, but it had been a full month since. Harry opened the front door and walked inside with Sirius and Hermione trailing behind him.

The front door opened to a warm entrance hallway that led to an open parlor. A fire was already roaring in the fireplace. The furniture was made of maple wood and the armchairs were colored crème and maroon. There was a kitchen and off from it the house elf quarters, which were big enough for up to six elves to live comfortably. A full dining room with real silverware sat formally to the left.

Up the stairs were the library and guest rooms. Up from that on the third floor was the main set of bedrooms. Sirius had argued against being given the master suite since it was technically Harry's house, but both Harry and Hermione had managed to convince him that since he was their guardian, it was only proper. Harry and Hermione's rooms were both large and spacious enough as it was and though they shared a single bathroom between them, neither of them thought they'd mind.

Harry stepped into his personal bedroom. His trunk was set up at the foot of his bed, which was a large queen-sized four-poster with soft green sheets. Hedwig's perch was already set up by the window and from it, Hedwig hooted at him. He'd had her fly back earlier that week since it would have taken her a while to make it here.

"Hey, girl," Harry said. He stroked her feathers as he looked out the window. It was certainly a change of scenery to be back in England after a summer in the south of France. Still, the wide fields that surround Hallows Hold were beautiful in their own way.

There were letters waiting on his desk. Harry looked them over. One was from Ron and the other had the Hogwarts crest. He and Hermione had already gotten their book lists, so the letter from Hogwarts had to be another letter from Dumbledore trying to convince him to give up his location.

Harry scowled. Dumbledore had broken all the trust Harry had had in the man that summer. When Sirius and Hermione had rescued Harry from the Dursleys at the beginning of the summer, Harry hadn't given much thought to the blood wards around Privet Drive. After all, the wards didn't protect him for Vernon and his fists.

Sirius had been horrified and had immediately decided that living on the run and leaving Harry to the Dursleys was not the way to do things. Harry supposed that was why Hermione had contacted the man in the first place and though he'd been angry about it at first, he'd quickly retracted said anger and instead thanked Hermione for her actions. Hermione had convinced her parents to let her live in France with them and Sirius had done quick work of getting the IWC, the International Wizarding Community, to give him a full and proper trial.

It had taken a month and half but, at the bottom of a long stack of paperwork, Sirius had been declared Harry _and_ Hermione's legal magical guardian in the eyes of the IWC. And through it all, Dumbledore had sent more and more guilt-tripping letters trying to convince Harry to come back. Harry had almost been more upset with the fact that there'd only been one similar letter written to Hermione. He knew he was _special_ but the blood wards weren't any better than the anonymity of living in France and the goblin-set wards around their cottage house.

Harry headed through the bathroom that connected his room to Hermione's. She had her second trunk, her library trunk as she called it, open. It had been an early birthday present from Sirius. It was larger on the inside, with full bookshelves and automatic organizing charms in place.

Harry had been given a new trunk as well, one with an automatic featherweight charm and multiple drawers and expanded bars and hangers for the new wardrobe Sirius had bought him. A full set of new muggle clothes had been the first thing Sirius had purchased for him, but he'd also taken Harry and Hermione shopping in wizarding Paris for some proper casual and formal wizarding wear later in the summer after they'd been taught enough to understand why it was important to wear such things.

Harry would have thought Hermione would have rejected being indoctrinated into the wizarding world, but with Sirius and the Delacours teaching them, that hadn't happened. Hermione had remarked to him only a few weeks ago that there should be a class at Hogwarts teaching muggle-raised students about the culture of the wizarding world, because it was really so important and fascinating and how were they expected to fit into the world if they weren't even taught what they'd been doing wrong?

"Dobby did a great job," Harry said as he looked around Hermione's room. Hers was done in baby blue coloring and oak furniture. There was a reading nook in one corner, even, which was just so perfectly Hermione that Harry grinned.

"He did," Hermione agreed. She pulled away from her trunk and glanced over at him. "What's that?"

Harry held up the Hogwarts letter. "Not sure, but probably Dumbledore. I'm going to give it to Sirius in the morning."

Hermione nodded, wrinkling her nose. She'd had the hardest time with Dumbledore's disrespect. Harry always internally expected authority figures to disappoint him, however much he'd hoped not when he'd come to Hogwarts—but Hermione had found solace in her childhood in her teachers when her parents had never really paid attention to her intelligence and hard work. That their esteemed headmaster wasn't perfect and in fact had been continuously awful about the whole thing had really upset her.

"You doing okay?" Harry asked Hermione. He'd grown to really like and care for the Delacours, but Hermione had been the closest to Fleur. Apparently Fleur had been the first female friend she'd made who was both intelligent enough to match Hermione's arguments and conscious enough to be careful in her comments about Hermione's looks. Fleur had never put Hermione down for being _plain_ and instead had highlighted Hermione's inherent beauty and taught her to be more confident in herself. She done that with Harry too, but Harry hadn't needed it in quite the same way as Hermione.

Then again, Harry mused as he thought of the long conversation he, Hermione, and Fleur had engaged in about the nature of magical submissives, Fleur had helped him too. After all, he'd had an identity crisis halfway through the summer about not being inherently dominant and it had taken him several weeks of Fleur demonstrating to him that submissives and consorts weren't weak for him to finally feel comfortable enough to tell Sirius. Of course, Sirius had said he already knew—after all, Harry took after his mother more than his father and Lily had been quite the spirited consort.

"We'll see them again," Hermione stated. "And we'll write." She walked over to her bed where Crookshanks was sleeping on one of the plush pillows. "Maybe I should get an owl."

"We should invest in an enchanted mirror or something instead of forcing Hedwig or any other owl to fly all the way to France," Harry said. "I could make it a birthday present for you."

Hermione smiled. "Would you, Harry? That would be so great!"

Harry nodded and pulled Hermione into a casual hug. He'd gotten used to the physical comforts that submissives were expected to give each other and, after years of being neglected positive touch at the Dursleys, he wasn't ready to stop. Luckily, Hermione wasn't either, for she hugged him back easily.

"Night, Hermione."

"Goodnight, see you in the morning."

Harry headed back to his room. He had a hard time falling asleep—having gotten used to the sound of the sea lulling him into dreams—but once he finally did succumb to Morpheus, he slept deeply.

o-o

Sirius frowned at the letter. "Well, he's learning."

"Because it's a Hogwarts letter?" Hermione asked.

Sirius nodded. "He's writing as the Headmaster of Hogwarts, which is perfectly within his rights. He expressed concern over Harry's guardianship. I think he's worried about the letter I sent that informed him that I was still in charge of Harry even when he was at Hogwarts."

"Because Dumbledore used to be my magical guardian," Harry said. "And Hermione's, and for every other muggleborn student."

"It's a bad system," Sirius said. "I remember Lily being upset over it. She ended up asking Alice's parents to take on the position because she didn't want Dumbledore to have any say over who she dated or married, or what she did with her money."

Harry scowled. Dumbledore had siphoned away not a small percentage of the Potter fortune to fund various things. Most had been used for Hogwarts' betterment, but still it felt like stealing. Except, it had been his right as Harry's magical guardian.

What upset Harry the most was that Dumbledore had actually taken Harry's invisibility cloak out of the main Potter vault solely for the purpose of gifting it to Harry for Christmas that first year. Luckily, most of the other Potter artifacts had rejected him so he hadn't been able to steal much of anything except for money.

"Oh, huh, he's also demanding I pay Hermione's tuition in full." Sirius shook his head. "You're still supposed to exist under the muggleborn fund, but it's not like I mind sending the extra galleons. It's just petty."

Hermione huffed and stirred more sugar into her morning tea.

"You say you got another letter?" Sirius asked.

"From Ron." Harry picked it up. "Did you want to read it?" He knew that, since Ron was probably a dominant, it was within Sirius' rights to read any correspondence between Harry and Hermione and Ron. Then again, Sirius wasn't the kind of guardian to demand such traditionalism and he shook his head.

"Honestly," Hermione said. "Ron needs to change his tone." She'd gotten her own letter. They'd both written back and forth with Ron over the summer, but it had been slow and brief because of how little Ron usually wrote and how long the owl travel took. This last letter, though, had been a bit rude. Ron had demanded to know when they'd be back in England so they could come stay in the Burrow and all go to Diagon Alley and King's Cross together. The request itself wasn't bad, except it had been worded like they had no choice and that had pissed Hermione off.

"We already told him that we got all our school things in Paris," Harry said. "And you'll probably floo or apparate us onto the station, so there's no reason to stay at the Burrow."

"It would put you under Dumbledore's thumb earlier, too," Sirius muttered.

Harry sighed. He didn't want to be so mad at Dumbledore, but the man was making it hard to forgive him. They had learned that, as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Dumbledore could have pushed for a trial for Sirius, and everyone else Crouch Sr. had put in Azkaban without proper jury. He hadn't. That upset all three of them immensely.

Staying in wizarding France had really opened Harry and Hermione's eyes to the different types of magical communities. France was a strong part of the IWC, as was Bulgaria, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Spain, and countless other European countries. And then there was Russia, China, Japan, Vietnam, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan... not to mention Australia, Singapore, and then in the Americas of course there was Brazil and Peru and Mexico and the United States and Canada. On top of that, Harry had learned that African witches and wizards were renowned for their powerful magic and culture that persisted in the wizarding community outside the influence of Western colonization on the continent.

The most amazing thing was that all these countries had representatives in the IWC and, with the ease of wizarding travel, were globally connected in a way the muggle world hadn't found until recent years. And yet Britain still held onto their almost isolationist culture.

In comparison to the IWC, the British wizarding world was so behind on the times it was depressing.

Dobby popped in, wearing his usual black tea towel complete with the Potter family crest. He looked much healthier than he had at the beginning of the summer, before Harry and Hermione had learned that a house elf without a master was a house elf starving to death. Harry had rectified his mistake immediately and called Dobby to him to be bound to the Potter family. Dobby would perhaps always be strange, but he was less insane now that he had magic sustenance flowing through him on a regular basis. And besides, Harry loved him for his little oddities, the mismatched socks on his feet just one of them.

"Hello, Dobby," Hermione said as Harry smiled at the house elf and Sirius gave him a nod.

"Hellos Masters and Mistress," Dobby said. "Dobby is wondering if you is wanting more breakfast?"

"I think we're good, thank you, Dobby," Harry said. "And thanks again for all the hard work you did on this place. It's really beautiful."

Dobby grinned. "Dobby is happy Master Harry likes it. Dobby is so happy to work for a proper family again, Dobby is." His ears wilted for a moment, before he ran a hand over the crest on his tea towel and visibly cheered himself. He popped away to the parlor and began whistling to himself as he clean out the fireplace and relit the fire.

"It's just awful, what Lucius Malfoy did," Hermione whispered. "I keep forgetting, but when he says something like that…."

Harry nodded. He'd learned that giving a house elf clothes didn't actually free them, not unless they were already on probation with the family. Lucius Malfoy had apparently never liked Dobby and had constantly hung the threat of being freed over his head. When Dobby had been given that sock, he'd been so happy even though Harry now knew he'd basically just accepted that he'd starve to death.

"Lord Malfoy has always been the worst kind of man," Sirius muttered. "I never forgave my uncle for arranging his marriage to Cissy."

"What?" Harry looked from Hermione to his godfather.

Sirius blinked and looked up. "Oh, do you not know? Narcissa is my cousin. She was my favorite cousin. A Ravenclaw in school, like Andy."

Andy and Dora—or Andromeda and Nymphadora Tonks—had come to visit them in France over the summer after the IWC trial had happened. Harry liked both of them and had even managed to convince Dora to let them call her Dora instead of Tonks—otherwise, he'd argued, it would get too confusing because Andy and Ted were both Tonks as well.

"Did you ever reinstate Andy and Dora into the Black family?" Hermione asked.

Sirius shook his head. "I'm going to head over to the old house on Grimmauld Street once you both are back at Hogwarts and see what I can do. There's a lot of political mumble jumble I need to sort through." He sighed. "I never wanted to be head of the Black family."

"Anyway, Narcissa?" Harry pressed.

"Right, yes Cissy. She and I were the only ones who still talked to Andy after she married Ted. But then my _dear_ uncle forced Cissy to marry Lucius and he forbid her from contacting Andy. Or me. Or anyone in the family except Bellatrix."

"That's your insane cousin, right?" Hermione asked. "The one in Azkaban?"

"Yeah." Sirius sighed. "To be fair, Bella and Cissy do love each other. I never understood it. Bella has never been mentally stable but Cissy has always been able to calm her. Though I don't imagine thirteen years in Azkaban has done her well." He shuddered briefly, like he always did when Azkaban was brought up.

"I just wish there was something we could do," Hermione said. "About Lord Malfoy. He should be in Azkaban, if not for his house elf abuse then for his time as a Death Eater."

Sirius snorted. "Don't I know it? But Fudge is his lackey through and through. Thing is, if Malfoy Sr. was incarcerated, then Malfoy Jr. could legally become the head of the family, provided he's a dominant and the family ring accepts him. It'd get Cissy out from that man's hold. I worry about her in that house."

"I'm not sure Draco would be much better than his father," Hermione muttered. "He's a git."

Harry nodded. "But he probably wouldn't beat his mum. Or worse."

Hermione paled. "Yeah."

Sirius waved his hand. "This is depressing breakfast conversation. Let's cheer things up. I have a surprise for you two." He paused. "Well, more for Harry… but it might be an interesting experience for you, Hermione."

Harry accepted the slender folder Sirius handed him and opened it up. He gaped. "Quidditch World Cup tickets! Sirius!"

Sirius laughed as Harry hugged him over the table. "I'm excited too."

"It will be a good time to test your legal innocence," Hermione stated. "After all, Fudge wouldn't dare arrest you with so many other country's dignitaries around, even if it is on British soil, right?"

"We can only hope so."

o-o

Pig flew through the window and buzzed excitedly around the den. Harry and Sirius were playing chess together at the side table while Hermione read from a large tomb entitled _Christmas or Yule? The Muggle-Influence on Traditional Holidays_.

"I'm almost regretting letting Ron keep that owl," Sirius muttered as Harry stood to grab the letter from Pig.

"He never even got tired flying all the way to France and back to the Burrow," Harry agreed. "Quite an excitable thing, aren't you, Pig?"

Pigwidgeon let out a tiny squeak. Harry opened the letter.

"It's addressed to both of us, Hermione," he said. "I guess Ron got tired of writing two separate letters."

"He's so lazy," Hermione said with a great sigh. She closed her book and came to stand next to Harry. "Let's see what he has to say."

"Oh!" Harry said as they read the letter. "The Weasleys got tickets to the World Cup too! Guess Mr. Weasley has connections with the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Good tickets too, they're set to arrive the day of the game, in the early morning."

"Well, so are we," Sirius said. "Does it say what site they're camping at?"

"No, but probably not ours. We're going to be in the French sector, right?" Hermione said. "It will be nice to drop by and visit them, though. We've never even met Bill, have we?"

"You're right, huh. We should do that. Ron talks about him all the time."

Harry and Hermione sat down and drafted out a reply to Ron. Harry would say that, after this past summer, Hermione had become truly the best friend he'd ever had—but Ron was still one of his first friends. He might be a lazy git sometimes, but he might always hold a bit of a special place in Harry's life.

"You know, Harry," Hermione said as they finished the letter. "I'm glad you started paying attention to your studies more this summer. Ron said he hasn't even finished his Potions essay yet! And school starts in less than two weeks."

"We did our Potions essays in June." He and Hermione had done all their essays at the beginning of the summer and had then spent the rest of the summer studying the practical work of every subject because they'd been allowed to use their magic in France. Harry stroked his wand holster and frowned. "Hey, Sirius, can we use magic here? Or is the Trace back on?"

"We're back in England," Sirius said. "I wouldn't risk it. If you were able to claim your inheritance as Lord of the House of Potter, it wouldn't be a problem, but you're not dominant."

"I know." Harry sighed. Though he'd come to accept himself and the fact he'd be a consort to some witch or wizard… he was upset that, by being so, whomever he married would be the head of his family, not him. He wouldn't ever be allowed to wear the Lord Potter ring his father had—though he would wear the Potter consort ring that his mum had.

"We can still do some Potions work," Hermione said. "I want to try brewing Wolfsbane."

"Good idea! It can't be any harder than the Moonlight Burst potion we figured out the day before my birthday."

"Let's hope not," Sirius said. "I'm tired of having to repair the potions' room after you two explode it again." He tapped his chin. "Speaking of Potions, I wanted to talk to you two about that."

"What about it?"

"Look, Snivellus— I mean Snape and I don't like each other. We never have and, to be honest, I was a right git to him in school. However, his animosity toward you, Harry, and even you, Hermione, borders on abusive. From what you've told me, he's breaking the Hogwarts Code of Conduct." Sirius folded his hands in front of him and met their eyes steadily. "If he ever does anything unfair to you, I want you to report him to the Board of Governors and let me know. You're my wards now and I won't stand for you failing Potions when I know you both have talent in it."

"You can report professors to the Board of Governors?" Hermione asked.

Sirius nodded. "It's one of their jobs. The reason they were founded was to regulate the professors and the headmaster. I know Malfoy is on the Board, but the rest of them aren't that bad."

"We'll keep that in mind," Harry said. He wished he'd known that earlier. Maybe then he wouldn't have gotten detention for breathing too loudly. "I don't know how he's going to keep up believing I'm some copy of my dad. I mean, even you say I'm more like my mum."

"You really are," Sirius stated. "You've got more than just Lily's eyes. Snape fancied himself in love with her, you know. That's one of the reasons he hated James. Because he's the one that Lily accepted the courtship of, not Snape."

"I never knew." Harry exchanged a glance with Hermione. "Snape really liked her?"

"Don't ask me why. They used to be friends, but she stopped talking to him after he screwed up and called her a mudblood." Sirius shook his head.

"That's awful," Hermione murmured.

Sirius stood. "It's in the past. Now, I'm hoping Dobby has dinner ready, because I'm starved."

Harry and Hermione followed behind their guardian out the den and down the hall toward the dining room. All the while, Harry thought about his Potions professor and his mum. He shuddered. He couldn't imagine his mum and Snape in a relationship… but maybe Snape had been different in Hogwarts.

Or, maybe not, Harry thought. He'd never know for sure. It wasn't like he had a pensieve full of his mum's memories.

o-o

Sirius apparated with Harry and Hermione around midday on Monday, as per their given time. They arrived at the field near where the stadium was set up and were immediately greeted by a wizard with a long list.

"Let's see, Lord Black," the wizard said. "And two guests. I've got you checked off. Head down there and the muggle will take the money for your campsite."

"Thanks," Harry said for them as Sirius walked down to the ticket office for the campground.

The muggle was obviously confused, muttering to himself about strange people, but he seemed to relax and Harry, Hermione, and Sirius' normal muggle clothes and Hermione's easy handling of the money. "Let's see, you're in Site Three, Mr. Black. Here's your map and have a good day."

They walked through the campground, observing the crazy tent set-ups. Site Three was the French sector, but they walked through the Irish sector on the way and ran into Seamus Finnigan and his whole clan.

"Harry, Hermione!" Seamus yelled excitedly, waving his arm around.

Harry grinned and walked over to his fellow Gryffindor. "Hey, Seamus. I see you're supporting Ireland." He looked over the brightly decorated campsite, green shamrocks proudly displayed everywhere.

"Of course," Seamus scoffed. He looked behind Harry and paled a bit. "Oh, and that's you're godfather… uh, Lord Black."

Sirius bared his teeth in a mock grin and held out his hand. "Seamus Finnigan, isn't it?"

"Yes sir," Seamus said, his voice raising several octaves. He accepted Sirius' hand and then winced as Sirius shook it roughly. "Nice to meet you, sir."

"I'm sure." Sirius looked up as Seamus' father approached them. "Ah, Lord Finnigan. It's been years."

"Lord Black!" Lord Finnigan said. "Read all about your innocence in _The Shamrock_ I did. Much more in depth than _The Prophet_ it was. Glad to be back in Britain, are you?"

"Well enough," Sirius said. "Least 'til Fudge tries to get me arrested."

Lord Finnigan scowled. "Wish to say he wouldn't dare, but the British Ministry has really gone downhill since our school days, hasn't it? Quite the disgrace. It's why I moved my family back to our ancestral home in Ireland, but you know the Irish magical school just can't compete with Hogwarts, even with it's recent troubles."

Sirius nodded understandingly. "I considered transferring Harry and Hermione here to Beauxbatons, but they wanted to stay at Hogwarts and I can't say no to that. Not when it was my Alma Mater too."

"Ah, yes, young Harry Potter." Lord Finnigan peered at Harry disconcertingly. "Are you planning on claiming your Potter lordship soon, Mr. Potter?"

Harry frowned and stepped back closer to Sirius. "No, sir. I won't be claiming lordship. That is, I can't."

"Oh!" Lord Finnigan glanced up at Sirius, who placed a protective arm around Harry's shoulder. Hermione's hand found it's way to Harry's. He squeezed it. "I see."

"You'll keep your son in check then," Sirius said softly, with just the hint of warning. Seamus looked between Harry and Hermione, and then to his dad. "I know he's living in Harry's dorm. I don't want to worry about my ward's virtue over the next few years."

"I understand, Lord Black," Lord Finnigan said just as seriously. "I've been meaning to have that talk with Seamus soon anyway. I'll make sure he's aware of his boundaries before he returns to Hogwarts."

Sirius nodded and soon enough they all said goodbye and continued on their way.

"I was just thinking," Hermione whispered to Harry as they go their tent set up. "Things are going to change at Hogwarts, aren't they? I mean, we're all fourteen now."

"You're almost fifteen," Harry pointed out.

"Exactly! Everyone's going to be thinking of romance and stuff, you know?" Hermione frowned as she hammered in a peg. "It's a bit nerve-wracking. Being submissive. I mean, I can imagine so many people will want to court you, Harry, but I'm just a muggleborn. I don't have a title or dowry or anything."

"You're also the smartest witch in Hogwarts right now." Harry squeezed her shoulder. "Don't worry, Hermione. There are plenty of people who'll be interested in you."

"But I wouldn't be a good housewife. I don't want to be one! I want a job after Hogwarts. At the Ministry maybe, or teaching, I don't know. I don't want some lord who wants me to stay at home and have babies." Hermione shuddered.

Harry nodded sympathetically. He thought to himself that such a life wouldn't be so bad. Just focusing on his family… he figured he would like that. But Hermione was different. She needed to find a lord who appreciated her ambition and intellect. Harry was sure she would.

They got the tent set up and headed inside. Sirius had gone to talk to Ludo Bagman, the Head of the Department of Magical Sports and Games, about their seats, so Harry and Hermione had been charged with getting the campsite all ready.

They'd slept in a magical tent like this one for a brief vacation in the middle of the summer, but Harry was still amazed by it. Sirius had bought the tent new. It had three separate bedrooms and even a bathroom and full kitchen.

Sirius got back soon after and they ate dinner at a campfire outside, before heading over to where salesmen were selling paraphernalia for both teams. Sirius bought them all omniculars and got himself a little Irish flag. Harry and Hermione had both decided to be neutral, as they weren't particularly familiar with either team. Harry spent a minute staring over the miniature Krum figurine.

"He's supposed to be quite a seeker," Sirius said.

"He scowls a lot," Hermione stated, staring at the figuring as well. She blushed as the little figurine turned toward her and bowed low. "Well… I suppose he's not so bad."

Harry laughed to himself and bought the figurine behind Hermione's back. He figured he could give it to her for a birthday present, just to be funny.

They ran into Ron as they neared the other end of the sales area. He grinned at them both and then ducked his head shyly at Sirius. They talked excitedly for a few minutes, until Ron walked them back to where the rest of the Weasleys were.

Mrs. Weasley immediately drew Harry into a hug and commented on how nice Hermione's hair looked all braided up like it was. Mr. Weasley drew Sirius aside and they began to talk in low murmurs. Harry supposed Mr. Weasley was apologizing for not believing Sirius was innocent.

"Harry, Hermione," Charlie said. "It's been years."

"Hi, Charlie!" Harry said. "How's Norbert?"

"Doing well," Charlie told him. "You haven't met Bill yet, have you?" He gestured the eldest Weasley child closer.

Harry stared a bit as Bill approached and then, inexplicably, blushed. Bill wore his hair long and had a fang earing sticking out of his left ear. His clothes were fashionable, including what Harry recognized as dragonhide boots. He held himself confidently, like someone who embraced his own dominance and knew where he stood as the next head of the Weasley family.

"A pleasure to meet you finally, Harry, Hermione," Bill said. He took Harry's hand and lightly kissed the air over it, and then did the same for Hermione.

"Likewise," Harry said, smiling and trying to will his cheeks back to a normal color. He noticed Hermione wasn't doing much better. Bill was nothing like either of them had expected when comparing him to Ron or the twins.

"Why'd you do that, Bill?" Ron asked, scowling. Harry noticed they'd attracted the attention of the entire Weasley family. Percy was blinking hard and Ginny was staring with her mouth hanging slightly open. The twins were exchanging glances with much eyebrow wiggling.

"Do what?" Bill asked. "It's the proper way to greet a pair of lovely submissives."

"Harry's not submissive!" Ron stated hotly. "Tell him, Harry!"

Harry's cheeks stayed red, though this time for a different reason. "Actually, Ron… I am. I realized it this summer." He frowned. "How come you never mentioned the difference between submissives and dominants before, anyhow? Me and Hermione only learned a couple months ago."

"And now Lord Black is your lord guardian," Charlie stated. "A wise choice. Better than having it be the headmaster."

"But… you can't be submissive," Ron stated. "You're… you're Harry Potter!"

"I'm aware." Harry frowned.

"But you defeated You-Know-Who as a baby. You have to be dominant."

Harry scowled. "I don't have to be anything, Ron! And you know I don't like people mentioning that. I was one! What could I have done against Voldemort? I don't know why his curse backfired, but it's not anything I did."

"Besides, Ron," Hermione added. "That has nothing to do with Harry's level of dominance. And I don't see why it should matter. You never treated me any different, and you seem to have known I was submissive."

"I— well you're a girl, Hermione, of course you're submissive," Ron said. "But Harry, you're not a poof, are you? You know most dominants are lords not ladies, right?"

"I don't care about gender, Ron," Harry muttered. "I thought wizards didn't."

"We don't," Bill said, glaring at his little brother. "It sounds to me like Ron's got some very strange ideas running around his head." He huffed. "Don't worry, you two, Charlie and I will get him straightened out before Hogwarts. I know you three are friends, but if you've declared submissive then he should know. He can't be acting the same way around you two as he did when you were kids. It's just not proper."

"Honestly," Hermione said. "Nothing has to change. Really, Ron, it's not like you're looking to court either of us."

Ron turned bright red then and muttered something negative under his breath. Harry and Hermione exchanged an amused glance. Their red-haired friend really had some maturing left to do.

Harry felt a tug on his arm and turned to smile at Ginny. She was frowning. "You really are submissive, Harry?" she asked softly. "Like me?"

"Yeah," Harry said. "I am."

"Oh." Ginny looked oddly disappointed. "I hadn't known."

"Apparently no one but Bill had," Harry stated. "How'd you know, anyway? Sirius was trying to keep it out of the news, so it hasn't really been announced officially yet."

"Well, it will be soon, I can guarantee that," Bill stated.

"You carry it around you, Harry," Charlie said. "It was obvious as soon as Bill greeted you that way. You too, Hermione. Us dominants, we can just tell. It's not a bad thing, it's just the historical truth. A magical attunement, if you will."

"An evolutionary thing," Hermione said. "It makes sense. I wonder if it has to do with pheromones?"

"I'm sure you can look it up later, Hermione," Harry said. "Anyway, don't you suppose we should get going? The game will start soon."

Just then, Mrs. Weasley came up and started ushering them toward the direction of the crowd. Harry and Hermione fell back in step with Sirius, who held out each arm for them. Harry noticed Mr. Weasley had his arm held out for Ginny in the same way. Fred and George were arm-in-arm as well, but he didn't suppose that was the same thing.

Then again… Harry stared at George a little harder. "Hey, Hermione?" he said softly across Sirius' chest. "Do you suppose George is submissive?"

Hermione blinked and looked at the twins. "Now that you mention it… I do get that vibe from him. But Fred's definitely dominant."

"That's not uncommon in twins," Sirius stated.

"Huh." Harry shrugged and turned his attention to the huge Quidditch stadium.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes:** Continuing with the somewhat cliche stuff. Eh, it is what it is.

* * *

Apparently, Sirius had talked to Bagman about upgrading their tickets to the same as the Weasleys… which was the Top Box. Harry stared in amazement at the view as they all trekked up to their seats. He'd never seen so many magical people in one place. It was stunning.

There was no one else in the Top Box yet, except for a house elf sitting in a far seat. The elf looked up and Harry and Hermione took their seats closest to the creature and Harry could tell by the squished nature of her nose that she was in fact a she.

"Hello," Hermione said politely. "Saving a seat for your master or mistress?"

The house elf squeaked and nodded. "Yes, miss, Winky is. My's master is Lord Crouch, he is. He is asking Winky to save his seat, but Winky doesn't like heights." Winky squeaked and covered her eyes again.

Hermione scowled and exchanged an upset glance with Harry. "He shouldn't have made you come up here if you're afraid of heights. That's just cruel."

"Oh no, miss," Winky said. "Winky is a good house elf, she is happy to do her duties for Master Crouch, even if she is wishing she was back in her master's tent."

"Would it help to have some company?" Harry asked. "Dobby!"

There was a pop and Dobby appeared. Harry had wanted to call him anyway, because Dobby actually had an odd fascination with Quidditch that amused Harry—since Dobby was the one to cause him to almost lose one match at Hogwarts when he enchanted a bludger to chase Harry around.

Dobby looked around and clapped his hands. "Master Harry called me?"

"Do you know Winky, Dobby?" Harry asked.

Dobby looked over and grinned wide. "Winky! I is not seeing you in long time."

Winky looked up and smiled. "Dobby. I is hearing you becoming house elf for the great Harry Potter." She gasped then and looked at Harry. "Harry Potter, sir!"

Harry chuckled. "That's me."

Winky buried her head in her hands again, but this time it seemed more out of embarrassment. Dobby took the seat next to her and soon the house elves were whispering excitedly to each other. Harry turned back around and left them to it.

"Harry?" Ron asked from several seats down. "You have a house elf?"

"I wrote to you about it, Ron," Harry said. "Remember? I got Dobby freed before I knew what that meant, so I offered for him to become my house elf at the beginning of the summer."

Ron frowned, but after one glance at the two elves, didn't say anything more.

Hermione pulled out the program she'd bought and began looking through it. "Seems there will be a display of the teams' mascots before the match."

"Oh, that will be fun," Sirius said. "What do you reckon Ireland will have?"

"Leprechauns, likely," Bill said. Arthur nodded. "Not sure about Bulgaria, though."

"Could have dragons," Charlie said. "We have a couple breeds native to Bulgaria on the reservation."

The box gradually began to fill up and eventually Harry had to call Dobby to stand at his feet so that someone could sit in the seat he'd been in talking to Winky. Sirius and Mr. Weasley were both busy greeting people. Harry observed a number of people apologizing to Sirius about the nature of his imprisonment.

"Obviously the Ministry needs to take another look at how we regulate our justice system," one man with a lord ring on his finger said. "The Wizengamot has been up in arms about it. How the, at that time heir, of an Ancient and Noble House could have been thrown into that dreadful place without a trial. Well, it could have happened to any of us."

Hermione nodded happily at the conversation. "I do hope things start to change," she whispered to Harry. "I don't want to see the British Ministry become more corrupt than it already seems."

"Agreed."

The Minister of Magic arrived then, gesturing excitedly to a man wearing black velvet robes trimmed with gold. Fudge paused as he saw Sirius. He looked around wildly for a moment at the lords and ladies who had already greeted Sirius and now waited to see what Fudge would do.

"Ah… Lord Black…." Fudge pulled at his robes. "I wasn't aware you were allowed into the country, um."

"Not allowed into the country?" Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Am I to assume that I have been exiled from the place that has been my family's ancestral home since before Hogwarts was founded?"

"I, well, no, that would be…." Fudge gulped. "It's just, you haven't been given your trial yet—"

"But I got a trial," Sirius said coolly. "In front of the entire IWC court. With the strongest truth serum known to wizard-kind and several truth spells on top of that. Is Britain not a signatory of the 1843 IWC treaty? I recall Lord Blishwick and Lady Bones being there as Britain's representatives."

Fudge looked around again, but no one seemed to want to help him out. "Well, yes, of course. In that case, welcome back, Lord Black. Um, I'm sure the aurors can help you reclaim your reparations." He looked around Sirius and saw Harry. "Ah! Mr. Potter! It has been too long."

Harry took a step back and didn't accept Fudge's hand. "Minister," he said politely.

Fudge let his hand drop and turned to his companion. "Do you know Harry Potter? You know, the boy who survived… yes you know." He smiled nervously. "This is the Bulgarian minister. Doesn't understand a word of English. Where is Barty Crouch when you need him, huh?"

"Lord Crouch can speak over two hundred languages," Percy whispered to Ron, who ignored him.

"Ah, Lucius!" Fudge said.

Harry, Hermione, and Sirius looked sharply at the entrance of the Top Box as the Malfoy family walked in. Lucius Malfoy flashed icy blue eyes from Sirius to Harry and Harry glared back. Sirius rested a protective hand on Harry's shoulder.

The whole box seemed to pause at the tension that suddenly reverberated through the still air. Even Fudge seemed to notice, for he froze with wide eyes.

"Lord Malfoy," Sirius said finally, his voice hard.

"Lord Black," Lucius said back, a sneer obvious on his face.

Sirius looked left and his hand on Harry's shoulder tightened in what might have been pain. "Narcissa."

"Sirius," Narcissa murmured.

Harry noticed Draco looked from his mother to Sirius. A strange look passed over his cool blue eyes, and then he noticed Harry watching. Harry paused, expecting a sneer.

He got one, but it was delayed. Harry glanced left in time to see Lucius look away from his son. Draco's face smoothed out, becoming a mask of indifference.

Harry frowned, confused, but then Crouch arrived and broke the moment. Harry noticed the man dismiss Winky without so much a word of thanks. Hermione seemed to have noticed it as well, for she scowled.

Harry bent down and asked Dobby if he wanted to stay and watch the game, or go find Winky and catch up more. Dobby glanced nervously at where the Malfoys were sitting. Harry wasn't sure they'd noticed the house elf yet, which was a blessing. He didn't want that confrontation.

"Dobby is going to find Winky," Dobby whispered and then popped away. Harry sat up again, sad the elf would be missing the game. Well, Harry's omnioculars would be recording the match, so maybe Harry could let Dobby use them later.

Ludo Bagman rushed into the box. "Everyone ready?"

Harry sat back and listened to Bagman begin his commentating. The large screen opposite of them read BLUGARIA: 0, IRELAND: 0. He felt excitement spark in his gut.

The Bulgarian mascots took the field and Harry gasped and turned to Hermione. "Veela!"

Harry and Hermione had been able to meet Fleur's grandmother, a full-blood veela, that summer briefly. She'd been beautiful even in her age, but these hundred veela simply shone. Harry noticed all around the stadium as the dominants took on that half-crazed expression that said they were being affected by the allure. He and Hermione laughed as Sirius quickly plugged his ears to stay unaffected. Most of the Weasleys did as well, except for Ron.

Harry snorted as Ron stood and began to wave at the veela below. George pulled him back, also laughing.

"George is submissive, then," Hermione said as they noticed he was similarly unaffected.

Harry nodded. The veela dance seemed almost finished and some strange curiosity had him turning around just enough to see the rest of the box. He noticed most of the lords and ladies either had their ears plugged, or were holding onto their spouses' hands. Fleur had told them that those who had full marriage bonds were unaffected by veela allure, and similarly bonded veelas weren't able to give off allure either.

Harry's eyes narrowed as he noticed that Lord Malfoy had his ears plugged, though discreetly. Draco did as well, giving proof that the younger Malfoy was dominant, not that Harry had really doubted it with the way people like Pansy were all over him at Hogwarts.

"Do they not have a full marriage bond?" Hermione whispered after Harry had pointed that out.

"Full marriage bonds have to be consensual," Harry whispered back. "Right? Which is why pure arranged marriages have gone out of style, in comparison to full courtships."

"Oh, yeah." Hermione frowned and threw another glance toward Narcissa. "That's so sad."

Harry nodded, but was soon distracted by the arrival of the Irish mascots.

The leprechaun show was fantastic, though Sirius laughed at Ron and Ginny scrambling for the gold. "Leprechaun gold doesn't last," he told them. "No point in picking it up."

"Really?" Ron asked, looking mightily disappointed.

The game started then. Harry put his omnioculars to his eyes and watched in wonder as both teams took to the sky.

It was a fast-paced game. The Irish team was extremely skilled, but the Bulgarian team was rougher and unafraid of doling out dirty hits. Krum performed a Wronski Feint halfway through, causing the Irish seeker to crash. Harry winced in sympathy, but the mediwizards got Lynch straightened out soon enough.

"He's really good," Harry told Hermione.

Hermione nodded, though she seemed a bit disapproving. "That was really dangerous. You'd best not try to do that at school, Harry James Potter."

Harry laughed and turned back to the game.

The game got heated as fouls started being called on both sides, though especially the Bulgarian. The veela became outraged and turned into their harpy form. The aurors came down to try to contain the creatures, and then Quigley, an Irish beater, hit a bludger straight at Krum. It hit him square in the face and broke his nose.

Harry's breath caught as Krum raced, blood streaming from his broken nose, toward where Lynch had seen the snitch.

People were yelling and shouting and Harry winced as Lynch crashed for the second time… and right into the horde of angry veela. Krum pulled up just in time, snitch in hand.

"It's over!" Harry yelled.

"IRELAND WINS!" Bagman shouted.

The crowd was in an uproar over the end. Bulgaria lost by just ten points.

"That was very brave," Hermione said, watching Krum. "Stupid, but brave."

"Agreed." Harry smirked, thinking of the Krum figurine he was planning on getting Hermione.

"Vell, ve fought bravely," said the Bulgarian minister.

Fudge gaped. "You can speak English!"

Harry groaned at their ridiculous minister as the Bulgarian minister smiled wide at him and told Fudge it was funny. Fudge couldn't say anything to that.

The Bulgarian team came up to the Top Box, and shook hands with Fudge and then their own minister. Harry nudged Hermione as Krum walked past and she shot him a soft glare. Harry had to admit, Krum wasn't unattractive, even with the still-bloody nose. His shoulders were broad and he walked confidently, if a bit flat-footed.

The Irish team came then and accepted their trophy. Harry clapped and cheered, grinning wide the whole time.

Later, as they walked back to their tent, he thanked Sirius. "That was one of the best Quidditch games I've ever seen."

"Glad you enjoyed it, pup," Sirius said. He ruffled Harry's hair. "You too, Hermione?"

"I suppose," Hermione said, but they both saw right through her. She'd had fun.

They retreated back to their tent. Harry's mind raced with memories of the game, until finally he fell into an exhausted sleep.

o-o

Sirius woke them in the middle of the night. "Death Eaters," he said, his face pale and his eyes hard. "They're setting fire to the tents. I need you two to hide in the woods."

"Sirius!" Harry said, grabbing his godfather's arm. "What are you going to do?"

"Don't worry about me," Sirius told him. "I've been fighting Death Eaters since before you were born."

That didn't reassure Harry, but Hermione tugged him along. They ran through the blaze. "Dobby!" Harry called. His house elf popped in next to them. "Help us find Ron!"

Dobby did some house elf magic, the equivalent of a Point Me spell, and they were off again. They ran into the Ron at the outskirts of the forest. He was shouting something at Draco Malfoy, who lounged against a tree in direct sight of the Death Eaters carnage.

Draco flicked his gaze to Harry and Hermione, before turning his attention back to Ron. "Shut it, Weasley," he said. "You'd better run along."

"Don't tell me what to do!" Ron yelled.

Draco straightened up from the tree. "Do what you want, but it's irresponsible of you to stay here and keep your _friends_ into danger. Or don't you realize that both Potter and Granger are in trouble?"

"What does that mean?" Hermione asked, glaring.

Draco sighed. "I thought you were intelligent, Granger. Not only are you still a mudblood, despite your new ward-status with the Ancient House of Black… the Dark Lord's men would also love to get their hands on Potter."

"And I suppose you want that?" Ron spat. "I'll bet your daddy dearest is out there in a mask. Bet you'd just love to see him floating Harry up in the sky like he's doing to those poor muggles."

"It doesn't matter what I want," Draco spat, a sneer back in full force. "But if you don't want that to happen, Weasel, you should _go_. It's obvious isn't it? Potter and Granger would still be in danger otherwise, but they're both submissives, aren't they?"

Harry took a step back. "How'd you—"

Draco eyed him coolly. "Know thine enemies," he muttered. "I've always known, Potter. Do you have any idea what they did to submissives and consorts in the old war?"

Hermione let out a little gasp and pulled at Harry's arm. "We should go."

"Yes, Granger, you should." Draco turned back to his view of the campsite. His arms were crossed over his chest and though he seemed deceptively relaxed, Harry noticed that his jaw was clenched.

Harry grabbed Ron by the arm and pulled him away.

They ran into a group of Beauxbatons students as they continued on. "_Oü est Madame Maxime? Nous l'avons perdue_—"

"_Je ne sais pas. Je suis desole,_" Harry said. They continued past and ran next to a group of wizards surrounding some veelas. Ron was immediately struck by the allure and Harry and Hermione had to force him along.

Harry and Hermione lifted their wands and cast _lumos_. Ron dug into his pockets and then gasped. "I lost my wand!"

"What?" Harry asked. "How could you lose your wand?"

"It's not in my pocket!"

"We can't go back for it now," Hermione said. "We'll find it later. Though you should really get a holster like Harry and me. Anyway, come on. Where are your siblings?"

"I don't know, we got separated outside the tent."

They continued to run until they were deep in the woods, and then they stopped in an empty clearing. Ron slouched against a tree. Harry and Hermione stood together and held their wands high. It was quieter now.

"_Morsmordre_!" Someone shouted from a nearby clump of trees and then things got very confusing.

A huge skull appeared over their heads, an emerald serpent protruding from its mouth. Harry recognized it from his reading as the Dark Mark and he grasped his scar almost instinctively, though it didn't hurt.

Aurors popped onto the scene, a good twenty of them, and without thinking Harry yelled, "Duck!" and then threw himself onto the ground.

_Stupifys_ went flying over their heads, not ceasing until Arthur Weasley appeared and yelled at them to stop.

"Ron, Harry, Hermione, are you alright?" Arthur asked as they got to their feet.

Lord Crouch approached, scowling. "Which of you cast the Mark?"

"We didn't!" Hermione said.

The aurors began arguing, saying that they were just kids and then Ron shouted that it wasn't them and then Hermione pointed to the spot in the woods they'd heard the spell come from.

Sirius appeared then, fury on his face as he heard that the team of aurors had shot stunners at his wards. Harry accepted the man's hug and stayed with Sirius' arm around him. Hermione tucked in on Sirius' other side, both of them grateful that their guardian was unhurt from fighting the Death Eaters.

And then Winky was found in the spot the spell had come from, Ron's wand on her.

Harry and Hermione watched, aghast, as Winky was questioned. Eventually, it was decided she couldn't have cast the spell… and yet, Crouch barely even thought about it before giving her clothes and dismissing her from his service for the damage to his reputation.

Winky collapsed to the ground, sobbing. Sirius began to pull Harry and Hermione away as Arthur did the same for Ron, except Hermione slipped out of Sirius' grasp.

"Winky?" she asked, kneeling next to the elf. "Winky, it's okay, I won't let you starve. Come on with us, okay?"

Crouch began to protest, but Sirius glared at the man. "You just freed her, you've got no more right to her," he said. He helped Hermione pick the sobbing house elf up and they walked away from the whole mess.

They made it back to their tent, which luckily had survived the attack intact. Harry called Dobby as they sat Winky down on the small sofa inside and the house elf hovered over her, wringing his hands.

"Look, Winky," Harry said after several minutes, about to offer her to be bound to him like Dobby was, but then Hermione interrupted him.

"Hey, Winky, I know I'm not part of a big family, but what would you say about becoming my house elf?" Hermione asked. "You see, I need a personal elf who can help me when I start navigating through traditional courtship. Harry has Dobby for that, but I don't have one."

Winky blinked and rubbed her eyes. "Miss is traditional submissive?"

"Her name is Hermione Granger, Winky," Sirius said. "And she's my ward."

"Lord Black's submissive ward is needing a house elf?" Winky looked between them. "You is not having one who knows proper robes and veils?"

"Exactly," Hermione said. "And you can help Dobby with Harry's stuff."

Dobby nodded. "Dobby is used to being personal elf for dominant wizards, he is. He is not wanting to mess things up for Master Harry."

"Winky is knowing what to do," she said. "But Winky is a bad elf. Winky was… was freed." She began crying again, but Hermione grabbed her hands and held them.

"Your last master wasn't a very nice man, Winky. I promise I'll be a better mistress, if you want me?"

It was a quick process after that to convince Winky to be bound to Hermione. They said the ritual words and in a blinding flash, Winky's old tea towel was replaced with a soft brown one. It didn't have a crest on it, not like Dobby's did, but Winky seemed happy anyway.

Harry told Dobby to get Winky settled in the elf quarters at Hallows Hold. He, Hermione, and Sirius took down the tent and an hour later they apparated back to the stone house, exhausted and drained.

Over breakfast, Sirius told them what had happened on his end. "It was a mess," he said. "Death Eaters cursing everyone and the aurors were in chaos trying to help the crowd and get everyone to safety."

"Did they catch any of them?" Hermione asked.

"Not enough," Sirius said. "Most of them disapparated as things came to an end, but we did get a couple." He grinned. "That Bill Weasley is quite a duelist. He helped distract one while I got the man twirling the little muggle girl. You'll never guess who it turned out to be."

"Who?" Harry asked.

"Why, Lucius Malfoy!" Sirius laughed. "It was perfect. Caught red-handed, he was. Can't claim to be imperioed now. Ten aurors saw him demasked and we all saw what he was doing to that poor muggle girl."

"Is the family okay?" Hermione asked.

"They'll be fine. Had to obliviated to the gills, but the mediwizards said they'll recover no problem."

"I can't believe Malfoy got caught," Harry said. "I just hope he doesn't bribe his way out of a trial."

"Oh, don't worry," Sirius said, his eyes glinting. "I won't let him."

o-o

The trials of Lucius Malfoy and Evan Rosier happened three days before Hogwarts was to start up again. Harry and Hermione stayed in Hallows Hold, but Sirius went to both trials and reported after.

Apparently, since the attack had happened during an international event, the IWC claimed rights to preside over the two trials. Harry guessed that they didn't trust the British ministry to do it right, not after the fiasco with Sirius' trial. The plus side was that both Malfoy and Rosier were given veritaserum and hit with truth spells like Sirius had been and there was no chance of them lying their way out.

Harry read _The Daily Prophet_ the morning after. It had printed a full transcript of the trial. Rosier had been sentenced to life in Azkaban far easier than his co-conspirator, because Malfoy's part was a huge scandal.

"People are wondering why he was never questioned with veritaserum originally," Hermione said, reading from her own copy of _The Prophet_. "Oh, and look at this, a vote of no confidence has been called on Fudge, because he had Malfoy as his advisor for years and never questioned the man."

"That's crazy," Harry said. "They sure turned on him quick."

"I think Britain is finally waking up," Sirius said. "They may still believe You-Know-Who is gone… and for the most part, at the moment anyway, he is, but that doesn't mean there aren't still minor Death Eater terrorist attacks that happen every once and awhile. We've been living in incompetence for years."

Harry glanced down at a large section on the fifth page. "Malfoy, er… Draco I mean, he claimed his title."

"Already?" Hermione quickly flipped to the right page. "It's only been a day."

"The little Malfoy didn't waste any time," Sirius murmured. "It happened at the end of Lucius' trial. As soon as Malfoy was incarcerated, the lord ring began to burn him. He had to take it off and it flew on its own over to Draco. Practically begged him to hold it. Lucius was pissed, told Draco not to take it."

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"He grabbed it right out of the air and glared at his father in front of the entire IWC court and all the spectators and reporters. He said, and I quote, 'You've had your turn ruining the Malfoy name, Father. Not even our ancestors approve of you any longer.'"

"And then Malfoy Sr. replied," Hermione said, reading from _The Prophet_. "He said, 'You don't believe they'll approve of you, do you, Draco? You're hardly fit to wear that ring, little spoilt boy that you are?' Oh my."

Sirius nodded. "It was tense. Draco slipped the ring on right then and there and, to everyone's surprise, not only did the ring accept him, it gave off a huge magical charge. We all felt it. It was like the ring had just been waiting."

"What does that mean?" Harry asked, stunned.

"Means little Draco is now Lord Malfoy," Sirius said. "He's a fully emancipated adult. Able to do all things adult wizards can."

"But he's only fourteen!" Hermione stated.

"Doesn't matter, the family ring accepted him. He's a lord now, that includes all the responsibilities that go along with that." Sirius frowned. "James became Lord Potter our sixth year. It was hard on him having to balance all the workload. He had to get permission from Dumbledore to leave Hogwarts to go to Wizengamot sessions, and he had his own room and office. It will be difficult for the new Lord Malfoy, but if the ring accepted him then he's ready to take on the task."

Harry and Hermione exchanged stunned looks. They had nothing to say to that, really.

"I'm going to write him," Sirius said, more to himself then to them. "Narcissa is out from Lucius' hands now, but I still need Draco's permission to talk to her." He sighed.

"He'll grant it," Hermione said. "He has to."

"We can hope," Sirius said. He stood from the table. "I've got work to do, but let's go flying later today, okay Harry?"

Harry nodded and Sirius left. He turned to Hermione. "Only two days left."

"We should look over our summer homework one more time," Hermione said, biting her bottom lip.

"We already proofed them five times, Hermione. They're the best they can be." Harry sighed as Hermione continued to look anxious. "How about we look over the Potions textbook again. Can never hurt to read ahead for Snape's class."

Hermione nodded and they headed to the den for a calm day of reading.

o-o

September the first dawned bright and cheery. Harry wore simple trousers and a blazer. It was technically wizarding wear, for all it would blend into the muggle world. Hermione had on a similar outfit. Both were cut in the submissive trend, as had been explained by their tailor over the summer.

The news that Harry was a submissive hadn't broken yet in the news, but Harry supposed that was only because of all the other news there had been. Sirius and several of the Weasleys had a bet going on how long it would take. The twins especially were hoping to make back the money they'd lost to Bagman—who'd given them leprechaun gold instead of real galleons when they'd won the bet at the World Cup.

"Ready?" Sirius asked.

Harry nodded, holding Hedwig's cage in one hand and his trunk in the other. Hermione had Crookshanks' cat carrier sitting on the floor, trying to handle it and both of her trunks.

Sirius snorted and grabbed one of Hermione's trunks for her. He scooped up some floo powder and threw it into the fire. "Platform Nine and Three Quarters!"

Harry copied Sirius, and then Hermione came after. They quickly got out of the way as more people came through the floo behind them. The Hogwarts Express was already there, white steam billowing from its engines.

"Have a good year, you two," Sirius said. He hugged Harry, then Hermione. "I'll see you both over the winter hols, and you'd best write, often."

"We will," Hermione promised.

"Especially if any dominants start looking at you," Sirius warned. "Or if you're interested in anyone. I don't want to be blindsided by permissions for courtship, and I don't want to accept anyone you don't even like."

"Yes, Sirius," Harry said. "You already told us, we promise to let you know."

"Okay." Sirius ruffled Harry's hair and then kissed Hermione on the forehead. "Be good, but not too good!"

Harry laughed and helped Hermione get her two trunks onto the train and into an end compartment. The Weasleys always got to King's Cross late, so they didn't bother looking for Ron.

The compartment door opened a few minutes later, revealing Neville. He flushed and then nervously smiled as he spotted them.

"Hey, Nev," Harry said. "Want to join us?"

"Is that okay?" Neville asked shyly.

"Sure," Hermione said. "You look good, Nev."

"Thanks," Neville said, smoothing down his blazer. "My gran got me a new set of clothes this summer."

"Submissive wear too, huh?" Harry said.

Neville nodded. "She got me a new wand as well."

"Why'd you need a new wand?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, um, I was using my dad's before." Neville looked down at his hands. "But I told my gran this summer that I wasn't dominant like my dad was and she… she was upset at first but then she said that I can't be expected to use a great dominant like my dad's wand and so I had to get my own. And that if I was going to be a submissive of the Longbottom House I had to be dressed right. And that I'd better find a good dominant, because they'll be taking over the title of Lord or Lady Longbottom. She has very strict rules about approving someone to court me."

"Woah," Harry said. "That sounds… I'm sorry, Nev."

Neville smiled. "No no, I'm sorry for dumping that on you. It's okay, really. I like my wand load's more. And the clothes fit me better, too."

"They really look good on you," Hermione said.

"You two," Neville said. "I noticed. And I like your hair, Hermione."

"Well, the three of us are Gryffindor fourth year submissives. I don't know about Lavander or Pavarti or anyone else, but we, at least, should stick together," Harry said. "I know Ron and Seamus are dominant. I bet Dean is too. So the two of us will have each other in the boy's dorm."

"Yeah." Neville looked happy at that. "That'll be good."

Ron arrived just as the train was about to leave. He frowned at Neville. "What are you doing in our compartment?"

"We invited him, Ron," Hermione said. "Don't be rude. It's not like we don't have enough room."

Ron sat down in the empty seat next to Harry, still frowning, but Harry distracted him with a game of exploding snap and that was that. Hermione helped Neville go over his Potions summer homework as the train began rolling its way toward a new year at Hogwarts.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes: **I wasn't expecting to finish this chapter quite yet, considering that I'm almost done with the next chapter of House of Snakes and wanted to focus on that, but I got inspired and chugged the rest of it out and here we are. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Harry's Hogwarts robes covered his submissively-tailored clothing, but he saw a number of older students double-take as he passed them on the way to the Great Hall for the Welcoming Feast. Even after Bill had said so, he hadn't been sure that other students would be able to just tell that he was submissive.

Well, those who were a bit more oblivious would figure it out soon enough. Harry wasn't looking to hide it.

Harry sat at the middle of the Gryffindor table, facing toward the rest of the house tables. Hermione sat on his left, Neville on his right, and Ron across from him. Lavender Brown slipped into the seat across from Hermione, Pavarti next to her. Seamus took the other seat by Ron and Dean sat to his right.

The Sorting began and Harry watched as the young first years were divided between the four houses. Then Dumbledore stood and spread his arms to welcome the students. Harry saw the man look in his direction and he dropped his eyes, refusing to give the man a chance to non-verbally reprimand him.

Dumbledore said very little, just telling them to "tuck in" and then the food appeared.

"I wonder how many house elves Hogwarts has," Hermione said as she began eating.

"Just around one hundred, I hear," Seamus said. "Um, how was the rest of your summer, Hermione, Harry?"

"Good," Harry said. He cast his gaze across the Great Hall to the Slytherin table. Draco Malfoy sat in the center of the table, surrounded by a number of older students that Harry didn't recognize. He did know Blaise Zabini though, who sat on Draco's left, and Theodore Nott who sat on his right. Every once and a while, Harry noticed Draco lean over and whisper something into Nott's ear. Nott smiled every time he did so and scooted a little closer to Draco.

"Was it scary, living with an ex-convict?" Pavarti asked, causing Harry's attention to turn back to the Gryffindors.

"I mean, of course he's innocent, but he spent twelve years in Azkaban, didn't he?" Lavender continued.

"Sirius is perfectly sane," Hermione said, sniffing.

From several seats down, Fay Dunbar leaned over. She was the Gryffindor yearmate Harry knew the least, because she often hung out with the fifth year girls and ignored especially Pavarti and Lavender. "I imagine Lord Black is a good lord guardian to have," she said. "After all, everyone's so scared of him, that only a dominant really serious about either of you will risk asking for his permission to court you."

"No kidding," Seamus muttered.

Harry exchanged an amused glance with Hermione. "How'd you know Sirius was our lord guardian, Fay?"

"Unlike some I pay attention to more news than just _The Daily Prophet_. The papers in France and Germany had sections on Lord Black's new guardianship halfway through the summer." Fay placed a hand on her chin and in a flash of insight, Harry realized the fourteen-year-old was dominant. He hadn't been able to tell at first, but the way she held herself now made it clear.

Harry noticed that every other Gryffindor close enough to hear their conversation had stopped talking in order to listen in.

"Harry?" a tentative voice asked. Harry looked over and smiled at Colin Creevey.

"Yes, Colin?" Harry asked.

"What's a lord guardian?" Colin asked.

Harry remembered then that Colin was a muggleborn. He looked to Hermione for help.

Hermione frowned. "Being lord guardian means that Sirius is in charge of vetting through the courtship offers of dominants who want to court Harry or I," she said. "And other responsibilities of that nature. Only dominants can be the head of a family, so until Harry gets married, Sirius is also in charge of the Potter estate."

Colin's mouth fell open slightly. He'd obviously heard nothing about this before, but Harry wasn't surprised about that.

"You know," Alicia Spinnet said from near the end of the table. "In the other houses, they have inter-house lessons on wizarding culture."

"Yeah," Angelina Johnson agreed. "Most Slytherins come from the wizarding world, but the occasional that doesn't are taught early. Ravenclaws do lessons every Saturday for all the first years taught by the prefects. And the Hufflepuffs have a sort of big brother or sister system."

"Why don't we do that?" Hermione asked.

"We used to," Lee Jordan said. "My first year we did, but it stopped…." He frowned. "Hang on, why did we stop tutoring the first years?"

"I can't remember," Percy said. He tapped his Head Boy badge. "That's not right. Prefects, we'll have a meeting on this tonight. We can't have Gryffindor fall behind the other houses. Ignorant is the worst thing a person can be."

Ron leaned forward. "Percy's still upset because he really liked Fudge, but then there was the whole thing about how Fudge was just following Malfoy blindly."

"Huh." Harry glanced at the Head Boy again. He had nothing against Percy necessarily, though he could be a bit overbearing sometimes. Still, if Percy was going to head getting the muggle-raised Gryffindors informed, then all the better for it.

The conversation turned to inane matters then. The feast soon drew to a close and Dumbledore stood once more.

The headmaster began with information from Filch on forbidden objects, and then he announced that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup would not be taking place this year. Harry gaped. All across the hall, students let out upset sounds, until Dumbledore quieted them down. Just as he was about to explain why, the Great Hall doors slammed open.

Harry turned to watch as a man made his way slowly across the Great Hall. His face was scarred and one eye had been replaced with a magical eye that seemed to move independently of the other. Harry swallowed dryly, suddenly intimidated though he quickly bolstered himself.

Dumbledore introduced the strange man as Professor Moody, the new DADA professor. Harry felt Hermione slip a hand into his. He didn't have good experiences with his first two Defense professors. He could only hope Moody followed more along the lines of Lupin, not Quirrell or Lockhart.

Moody settled down and then Dumbledore went back to explaining that this year Hogwarts would be hosting the Triwizard Tournament. He explained that students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons would be coming to Hogwarts to participate.

"There is an age line which will be in place from this tournament," Dumbledore said. "Only those of age will be allowed to participate." Dumbledore looked to the Slytherin table and Harry saw at Draco lifted his chin. "That being those over the age of seventeen, or those who have been emancipated by the Ministry."

Ron bemoaned that he was too young and Fred and George joined in. The students began to leave their seats and head toward their dormitories. Harry and Hermione walked slowly, staying close together as they'd began used to doing over the summer.

"I'm glad they have an age rule," Hermione said. "It sounds dangerous."

"Agreed," Harry said. "I wouldn't want to participate. I get in enough trouble as is."

Hermione snorted. "Do you suppose Fleur will be coming to Hogwarts?"

"I hadn't thought… but it would be great if she did!" Harry grinned. "We should write and ask."

"Or you can get me that enchanted mirror a few weeks early," Hermione suggested.

Harry rubbed his nose. "But then what would I get you on your actual birthday?"

"I'm sure you'll think of something."

"You've become spoiled."

Hermione hit his arm and Harry laughed.

o-o

"Professor McGonagall?"

"Come in, Mr. Potter."

"Thanks." Harry stepped into the Transfiguration professor's office. "I was wondering if you've given any thought to my request."

McGonagall set aside the papers she'd been grading and gestured for Harry to sit down. "I have thought about it, but tell me again why you want to make this switch?"

"To be frank, Professor, Divination is a useless subject," Harry said. "All Trelawney does is predict my death. I learn nothing from it." He saw the way McGonagall's mouth twitched and knew he had her, at least on that point.

"Be that as it may," McGonagall said. "You can't just have one elective."

"Which is why I want to get put into Arithmancy," Harry said. "I took muggle math for all of primary school and from what Hermione says, it wouldn't be hard for me to catch up as much of last year was all about learning those basic formulas. This year is where things get more in depth with the magical side of it."

"That is true," McGonagall said. "I did talk to Professor Vector and she agreed that if you passed the end of the year exam that she usually gave to the third years, you could join the fourth year class. If you don't, then I'm afraid I can't allow you to drop Divination."

"I understand. When can I take the test?"

McGonagall cast a quick _tempus_ and frowned at the time. "I believe Professor Vector has class with the sixth years right now. She should be free tonight after dinner though. I'll tell her to expect you. Do you know where her office is?"

"Hermione can tell me. Thanks Professor!"

"For your sake, Mr. Potter, I do hope you pass."

Harry grinned at his head of house and nodded. He swung his pack over his right shoulder and headed to Care of Magical Creatures. Hermione and Ron were probably already there. Luckily Hagrid wasn't the kind to get upset if he ended up being a few minutes late.

As Harry was passing through one of the lesser-travelled corridors, he came across an upper-year Slytherin crowding another male. Harry took a step closer and realized the cornered figure was Theodore Nott. The fellow fourth year looked nervous.

Harry frowned. Something was going on here. He cast a disillusionment charm on himself and crept closer. Luckily the Slytherins were too distracted to sense his magical energy.

"I won't ask again," the older Slytherin said.

"I said no, Gordon," Nott told him, a barely noticeable quiver in his rejection.

"No is not an acceptable answer," Gordon stated. He took a step closer. Nott brought his wand up, but Gordon caught his wrist with a large hand and Nott's wand went clattering to the floor.

"Draco will—" Nott began.

"Think your boyfriend will save you?" Gordon grinned as Nott flushed. "That's right, he won't. You're not actually being courted by him."

"My father—" Nott began again.

"Thinks I'm a good match for you," Gordon stated. "Stop fighting. You're mine already."

"I will never be yours." Nott pulled his hand away.

Gordon slammed his hand against the wall by Nott's head. "You've got no choice in the matter. You'll be fifteen in three months." Gordon used a rough hand to tilt Nott's head up. "I suppose I can wait."

Harry saw how Nott relaxed. He was close enough now to see the glint in Gordon's eyes at that. "But why would I?" the older Slytherin continued. "When I can have you right now?"

Harry hissed before he could help it. Both Slytherins froze and looked around. Harry blinked and then smirked. He hissed again, letting the parseltongue slide off his lips.

"Who's there?" Gordon said, taking a step back from Nott. "Show yourself!"

Harry deepened his voice as much as he could. "Little sssssnake." He said with a distinct lisp. "How dare you hurt my nessstling?"

Gordon gulped. "This isn't funny!"

"Funny?" Harry carefully walked around the other side of Gordon. "I am never funny. Sssstep away from my nessstling."

Gordon was Slytherin to the core. It took no more convincing than that for him to turn tail and retreat. Nott stayed in place, his eyes darting to and from. Harry stepped back and turned to head to Magical Creatures.

"_Finite Incantatum!"_

Harry winced as his disillusionment charm dissolved. He looked back. Nott still had his wand pointed at him. Harry held up his hands in a placating gesture. Nott stared at him for a long minute. Harry lowered his hands and nodded. He turned around again.

Nott said nothing as Harry turned the corner out of sight.

o-o

Hermione scowled. "That's awful!"

Harry nodded. He'd just relayed to her what he'd seen between Gordon and Nott the day before. They'd been distracted yesterday with Harry getting placed in her Arithmancy class. It was Saturday afternoon now and they'd finally gotten the chance to sit alone in the common room.

Hermione was sickened at the thought of what Gordon had insinuated. "His dominant parent must have entered him into an arranged marriage contract," she muttered. "You know they're only valid after a submissive turns at least fifteen."

"That's messed up," Harry said.

Hermione sighed. "I wish there was something we could do to help him. I've never liked Ben Gordon."

"There's nothing Nott can do to get out of it?"

Hermione thought over what she'd read on arranged marriages. "With the kind of contract it probably is… I think if he enters into courtship with someone before he turns fifteen, then the person courting him will have the option of challenging Gordon to a duel."

"Malfoy might do that," Harry said. Hermione blinked. Harry suddenly looked a bit defensive. "I mean, they just seem pretty close."

"I guess," Hermione said. "It'd have to be permanent though. He couldn't just do it as a friend. Whoever wins would have to marry Nott, no exceptions."

"Damn."

"Language," Hermione scolded, ignoring Harry's eye roll. "Still, neither of us are dominant so there's really nothing we can do about it." She hated the thought. She wasn't one to give up, but in this situation she really didn't know what they could do to help Nott. Besides, it wasn't like they were friends—however much Hermione figured it was awful to force _anyone_ into an arranged marriage.

Harry sighed, but said no more on the subject. Hermione figured she'd pick up some more books on arranged marriages in the library if she got free time this weekend, but she wasn't hopeful about finding anything else.

"Did you finish your letter to Sirius?" Harry asked. "I'm going to have Hedwig take them."

Hermione nodded and reached into her bag to dig out the letter. "I'll come with you to the owlery."

They stood together and headed out of the common room. Ron didn't even notice them getting up from where he was half asleep on one of the cushy armchairs and Hermione didn't bother going over to inform him they were leaving.

Halfway to the owlery, Hermione felt something clench in her gut. She paused, placing a hand over her abdomen. She wasn't due for her time of the month for another week. It'd be strange to be cramping already.

"Something wrong?" Harry asked, turning to her.

"I… I'm fine," Hermione said, though she wasn't entirely sure. She took a step forward and the spasm in her gut intensified. She gasped and stumbled to her knees.

"Hermione!" Harry cried. His voice sounded far away.

Hermione felt as though she was dreaming. Everything was hazy. Her abdomen was on fire. She fell down to her elbows, heaving dryly.

Hands grabbed at her and she flinched away. "No!" she cried, but it sounded too weak to her ears. "Stop."

Someone was murmuring something. Hermione tried to focus on the words, but they were getting harder and harder to understand with each new wave of agony coming from her gut.

A warm hand touched the back of her neck and Hermione lost all conscious thought.

o-o

Harry could barely remember the last time he'd been so worried. The older Hufflepuff dominant who was holding Hermione glanced up at him. His friend had gone running for a professor.

"Dobby!" Harry called. His house elf popped next to him and then immediately pointed his long finger at the Hufflepuff.

"Bad wizard step away from young mistress!" Dobby said in a growling squeak.

"No, Dobby, he's helping," Harry said. "I need you to go get Sirius. Tell him something happened to Hermione."

Dobby lowered his finger and nodded. He popped away a second later. Harry called Winky next. She reacted in much the same way as Dobby, until Harry explained. As soon as he did, she lowered her finger and began wringing her hands.

"Winky do you have any way to tell what's wrong with her?" Harry asked.

Winky shook her head. "Winky is not knowing. Winky is a bad elf."

"It's not your fault," Harry reassured her.

Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey arrived just then, the female Hufflepuff who'd gotten them just a step behind. The mediwitch shooed the male Hufflepuff away from Hermione and began casting diagnostic charms on the witch.

"Mr. Potter?" McGonagall asked. "Mr. Diggory, Miss Boot?"

"She just collapsed, Professor," Harry said. "We were walking to the owlery and she stopped and then fell on the ground."

"Did you see or hear a spell being cast?" McGonagall questioned.

Harry shook his head. "No, Professor." He looked at Pomfrey. "She was clutching her stomach before she fell."

"She's having an allergic reaction," Pomfrey stated. The mediwitch looked to where Winky was watching. "Are you her personal elf?"

"Yes, Miss Healer," Winky said.

"What is Miss Granger allergic to?" Pomfrey asked.

"Shellfish is all, Miss Healer," Winky said. "I watch make sure she not accidentally eat any, I do!"

"I'm sure you do," Pomfrey said. She looked up and exchanged a dark glance with McGonagall.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

Pomfrey shook her head. "Come, we must take her to the infirmary."

"You three, with us," McGonagall said as Pomfrey levitated the unconscious girl.

Harry looked to Diggory and Boot as they walked. Diggory looked as confused as he did, but Boot had a dark scowl on her face.

"Can you explain?" Harry asked Boot softly.

Boot looked at him and then at Diggory. Diggory put a comforting hand on her shoulder. The older Hufflepuff exuded calm dominance, causing both Boot and Harry to relax slightly.

"All I know is that shellfish is a common ingredient in some love potions," Boot said.

Harry felt rage darken his world for a moment. He came to as Diggory stepped over and lightly touched his arm.

"You work well under pressure," Diggory murmured. "Few submissives do. I'm impressed, Potter."

"Harry is fine," he said, flushing a bit. "And I've had practice."

Boot snorted, but it was a friendly sound. "So my little brother tells me."

"Terry, right?" Harry asked. "Ravenclaw in my year?"

Boot nodded. "Is it true that you banished the spirit of You-Know-Who from under Quirrell's turben?"

Harry looked ahead to where Hermione dangled in the air. He hadn't just _banished _Voldemort. He'd killed Quirrell. "Yeah," he said softly. "I guess I did."

Diggory's hand on his arm tightened just briefly before he let go. "Even more impressed," the dominant said. "I'm Cedric, by the way. Cedric Diggory."

"Tori Boot," the female introduced.

"Neville Longbottom," Harry said, just to be funny. Cedric and Tori both cracked a smile.

They arrived at the infirmary. Hermione was levitated to one of the beds. McGonagall turned to Harry. "I need to inform Mr. Black what happened," she began.

"No need, Minerva," Dumbledore said as he walked into the infirmary. Sirius was hot on his heels. His eyes were dark and angry as he looked to where Hermione lay on the bed.

"Thank you, Dobby," Harry told his elf. Dobby waved from behind Sirius. The elf quickly joined Winky where she stood by Hermione's bed.

"What happened?" Sirius asked, his voice deeper and more dangerous than Harry had ever heard. He noticed Cedric flinch back a little and Tori took a step closer to the other Hufflepuff as if to ask for comfort.

Harry walked up to his guardian and Sirius pulled him to his side. Harry let out a deep breath and looked at Pomfrey.

The mediwitch held up a bright blue potion bottle. "I'm going to spell this into her stomach," she said. "I already banished all the reactive liquid in her body, but this will help calm her digestive system down."

"She had an allergic reaction to something with shellfish in it," McGonagall explained. "As Poppy just said, it didn't seem to be anything solid."

"Did Miss Granger eat some soup for lunch today?" Dumbledore asked Harry. "Clam chowder, perhaps?"

"Dumbledore," Sirius growled even as Harry shook his head.

"Hermione knows better than to eat anything with shellfish possibly in it," he said. "Besides, she had a ham sandwich for lunch."

"Perhaps Miss Granger accidentally—" Dumbledore began.

"You know very well that shellfish is a common ingredient in several potent love potions," Sirius said. "Don't try to avoid it." He sighed and looked over his ward. "I'm honestly glad she's allergic, else we might not have known."

"It had to have been put in her food or drink," McGonagall said. "But lunch was hours ago and the house elves will have already disposed of everything. I'm afraid there's nothing we can do to find the culprit."

"Winky, I want you to monitor everything Hermione eats and drinks for future contamination," Sirius ordered. "Can you do that?"

"Winky will not be failing her mistress, Master Black," Winky said firmly.

"Dobby be doing so for his young master too," said the other house elf.

"Thanks, Dobby," Harry said. "But I'm not allergic to shellfish. What if I already…?"

Pomfrey turned her wand on him and said a quick spell. The magic tingled through his body. She shook her head after a moment. "There is no way to tell for sure, but you have no shellfish in your body so at the very least no one tried to dose you with the same potion."

Sirius let out a relieved breath that Harry copied a second later.

o-o

Hermione woke. Harry was by her bed, holding one of her hands. She squeezed his slightly and he looked up from the book he was reading. She noticed it was _Quidditch Through the Ages_. Harry always read that book when he needed to comfort himself.

"What happened?" she asked. Her throat was dry. Harry poured her a glass of water that she took gratefully.

"You had an allergic reaction," he said as she drank.

Hermione growled slightly and set the glass down. "Which bastard doused me with a love potion?"

Harry grinned and Hermione glared. "Sorry, it's just I was trying to figure out how to tell you but of course you already know."

"Don't avoid the question, Harry James Potter."

Harry's expression hardened. "We don't know. Sirius is really upset about it." He shook his head angrily. "But Winky and Dobby are going to be checking everything we eat from now on so it won't happen again."

Hermione looked up at the ceiling. "I've never been more glad for my allergy."

"That's practically what I said," Sirius said as he walked into the infirmary.

Hermione felt immediate relief at seeing him. "Thank you for coming."

"I'll always come when you need me," Sirius told her.

Madam Pomfrey rushed in then. Hermione listened to her instructions on eating softer foods for the next day to give her digestive system a rest and then she was released. Sirius wrapped an arm around hers and she leaned into him as he and Harry escorted her back to the Gryffindor dorm.

"Did I miss any classes?" Hermione asked, suddenly worried.

Sirius and Harry both chuckled.

"It's Saturday, you're fine," Harry said.

"Oh, right." Hermione smiled. "Good. I would hate to get behind." She still remembered the months she'd missed being petrified, though luckily she didn't remember the petrification itself. It was terrifying to wake up and learn how much time had passed. She still had nightmares about being cold and unable to move.

Sirius held her closer as she shivered. "You doing okay?"

Hermione nodded. Sirius didn't press, though he might have known it was a lie.

A group of second year Ravenclaws passed then, squeaking in terror as they caught sight of Sirius. Sirius chuckled heartily.

They reached the Fat Lady. Harry said the password. She said nothing, glaring at Sirius as she opened up. Sirius winced.

"I guess she doesn't forgive you for ripping her up last year," Hermione whispered.

"Oops?"

Harry stepped through first, and then Hermione and Sirius. Ron immediately rushed over. "Where have you two been? And why is Sirius here?"

"I'm here because some idiot put Hermione in the infirmary," Sirius said.

Ron blinked, looking from Harry to Hermione to Sirius. "Who was it?"

"We don't know," Harry said.

Ron frowned. "Did you get hurt too, Harry?"

Harry shook his head. "No, just Hermione."

"I don't get it, why'd you come then Sirius?" Ron asked. "You're Harry's godfather, not Hermione's."

Hermione and Sirius both stared. "He's my magical guardian, Ron," Hermione stated.

"And lord guardian," Sirius added. "Of course I came."

"That was just for the press though, right? You don't really mean that. Hermione's muggleborn, she doesn't need a lord guardian."

Hermione felt her mouth drop open. Sirius' magical aura seemed to darken. She stepped away and Harry grasped her hand.

"How exactly does the nature of Hermione's parents affect my guardianship of her?" Sirius asked.

Ron didn't seem to notice how angry Sirius had become. Hermione saw that a crowd was gathering in the common room. Once again, she thought, Ron was making a spectacle of himself.

"Well, it's just that muggleborn submissives don't really have a lot of options, right? It's not like they know traditional courtship or anything." Ron shrugged. "All you have to do is date them a few times and do a muggle wedding."

Hermione felt something clench in her chest. For a moment, she thought it was another allergic reaction, until she realized it was just the start of tears.

"That's despicable," Sirius said. "Whether a submissive is muggleborn, halfblood, or pureblood, you treat them with respect or you stay away from them. Hermione knows exactly what to expect in terms of courtship and she more than deserves a full and exclusive courting period by any interested dominant. To assume that she doesn't just because she didn't have to opportunity to grow up knowing is horrifying behavior for someone who is supposed to be her friend."

Ron paled, finally realizing the negative nature of his words, but he didn't back down. "I'm just saying what everyone is thinking."

"No, you're not," Fay said.

"Don't put words in the mouths of the other dominants here, Weasley," Angelina hissed.

"Mum and Dad won't be happy when they hear about this," Percy stated, stepping forward. "I apologize on behalf of the Weasley family, Lord Black, for my little brother's insulting behavior toward your ward."

Sirius looked over the head boy. "I accept you apology. Make sure your brother is educated before he's allowed to attempt his friendship with both my wards again. I'd hate to have either of them feel inferior in his presence, as they are vastly superior individuals."

Percy smirked. "I can't disagree."

Ron turned and gaped at his brother, but before he could cause a scene, Fred and George appeared on either side of him and frog-marched him out of the common room, Percy following.

Hermione looked at Harry. He gave her a soft smile, which she returned. She couldn't say she hadn't been affected by Ron's words, but Sirius' defense had meant just as much.

"Come on, Hermione," Fay said, walking up. "I hear you've been through an ordeal today. I think a nap is in order."

Hermione stepped forward, only to have Sirius stop her with a hand on her shoulder. "If you don't mind, Miss Dunbar," he said. "I'd prefer if Hermione stayed in the company of other submissives for the rest of the day. I think it would help."

Hermione blinked, having not realized Fay's dynamic. She blushed as Fay nodded easily. "Of course, Lord Black."

Lavender and Pavarti stepped forward. "We've got her, Lord Black," Lavender said. "Come on Hermione. Let's make a blanket fort."

Hermione smiled hesitantly. She'd never been on very good terms with either of the girls. "That sounds… fun?"

Sirius hugged her goodbye. Hermione thanked him before she was pulled away by her roommates.

"We wanted to say we're sorry," Pavarti said as soon as they were encased in the relative safety of their room.

Lavender nodded. "We should have told you all about dominants and submissives before. Or at least tried to be a better friend to you. It's just…."

"It's not excuse, but we thought you wouldn't react well, seeing as you were raised by muggles," Pavarti murmured.

"You guys really wanted to be my friend?" Hermione asked, stunned. "I thought you couldn't stand me!"

"Please, Hermione, you're brilliant," Lavender said.

"Even my sister says you're smarter than her," Pavarti added. "And now that you know more about courtships, we can talk about dominants together."

"If you want?" Lavender offered.

Hermione looked from one to the other. She didn't really understand these girls. Sometimes they annoyed her for how shallow they seemed, but right now she understood what they were doing and she appreciated it.

"Okay," she said. "Let's make a blanket fort and talk."

"Fabulous," Pavarti said, flicking her wand toward her comforter.

"Wait, should we invite Harry and Neville here?" Lavender asked. "Would you like that?"

Hermione nodded immediately. Having Harry there would make her than much more comfortable. "We're the five submissive Gryffindor fourth years, right?"

"Right," Pavarti said decidedly. She left the room quickly to find the boys.

By the time they returned several minutes later, Hermione and Lavender had transfigured the room into an awesome blanket and pillow nest.

"Fay said she's going to stick with the fifth years today, so it's just us," Pavarti said.

"Dobby," Harry called. His house elf popped in. "Do you and Winky mind making up snacks for us?"

Dobby nodded. "Is Harry Potter wanting to eat dinner here with his friends?"

They all exchanged glances.

"I think that'd be great," Harry said finally.

Hermione cast a quick spell and changed her robes into pajamas. "I've never had a slumber party before."

The rest of them followed her example. Soon enough, they were all encased in the fluffy surroundings, trays of candy and mugs of hot chocolate being passed around.

Lavender and Pavarti weren't all that bad, even if they were a bit giggly, and they even helped get Neville out of his shell as they all talked about the attractiveness of various dominants in their year and above. Hermione had to blush as Harry related how Cedric Diggory had held her while she was unconscious. And then they moved on to teasing Neville about his crush on some unknown female dominant he refused to tell them the name of.

By the time they started the massage train and Bertie Bott's tasting contest, Hermione had forgotten all about her stay in infirmary and Ron's vile words.


End file.
